“Hey! I’m a good cook,” I argue.
“You aren’t, man. But, there’s plenty of time to practice.”
“Yeah… there’s plenty of time,” I agree, as he turns to me with a smile on his face. I smile back. Time is a funny thing. I went from thinking I had no time left to talking about having all the time in the world. The thought of all that time is overwhelming. I’m grateful for it now.
I glance at Arthur, my best friend. If he hadn’t come to check up on me…
I don’t want to think about what I would have done.
The mistake I would have made.
We look up at the stars together as the conversation dies down. Suddenly, Arthur points to a section of the sky.
“Look!” He says urgently. There’s a shooting star racing through the sky. I’ve never seen one before. If I had jumped, I would have missed it.
“Make a wish, Noah.”
I wish to find happiness.
My heart drops as the train pulls into Newquay train station. The familiar concrete station platform is pulled into view as I stand up to head for the doors. I step off, being sure to mind the gap. The sun is overwhelmingly bright, with very little cloud coverage. I sit down on the first bench I see, the metal cold against my skin. My breathing quickens as the realisation that I’ve actually gone through with this enters my brain. It didn’t feel real until I arrived.
There are loads of people rushing around, going about their everyday lives. I feel their eyes lock on me. As the platform begins to clear, my hitched breath returns to a somewhat normal state. The station grows quiet. I lean forward, placing my headinto my hands as I let out a sigh. My right leg bounces up and down seemingly on its own accord.
I told my friend Harry I was coming home, and he offered to pick me up from the station. I guess things can’t be that bad between us if he’s willing to do that for me - it’s not exactly a small car ride to the train station from where we live.
Harry owns a surf-hire shop near the beach and is a good friend of the family. My best friend Kai is his little brother, so we basically grew up together.
I can feel my nerves kick in when I realise he’s nowhere to be seen. I hope he hasn’t forgotten. I don’t have a clue how I’m supposed to get home without a lift. Or maybe he’s crashed on the way here.
I panic-text a message to him, asking if he’s almost here. I can feel my hands start to shake before hearing a thick Cornish accent.
“Hey, are you okay?” A voice asks. I look up and see a boy much taller than me coming to sit next to me. He places his bag on the floor next to him. His brown curly hair almost hides his ocean-like eyes. There’s a rainbow flag pin on his red plaid shirt, and a plain white V-neck underneath, his tanned chest peeking through the collar.
“Oh, yeah, I’m fine,” I choke out, unsure what to say. “I just haven’t been home for a while,” I continue while his eyes lock onto mine.
Why has he stopped to make sure a stranger is okay? People don’t do that usually. People are so caught up in their own lives that they won’t even notice if a stranger is crying. People stopped looking out for strangers a long time ago.
“Nervous?” He asks, his voice smooth like caramel. It’s a voice that sounds like it hasn’t been scarred by cigarettes like my own. He sounds like one of those meditation teachers I have onmy phone - I mean that in the nicest way possible. I don’t think I could ever get bored of his voice.
“Yeah, I’ve been away for a little bit. I don’t even know if there’s anything here for me,” I say, not realising I’m talking to a complete stranger. I fix my hair and sigh. I take a few deep breaths to calm down.
“I’m sure there still is, but even if there isn’t, you can find something for yourself, right?”
“Yeah, you’re right. That’s very wise of you,” I joke, even though it’s true.
“I’m Edward, but my friends call me Teddy,” he says, extending his hand out for a handshake. I shake his hand, noticing the black nail polish so meticulously painted on.
“I’m Noah,” I tell him, smiling like an idiot. We sit there for a moment before he stands up.
“Well, it was lovely meeting you Noah, and I’m glad you’re okay,” he says, picking up his shoulder bag. It’s covered in gay patches, which makes me smile. But then I realise I was too much of an awkward idiot to ask him for his number or anything. Not that I think anything would happen, but it would be nice to have more gay friends.
“All right, Noah?” Harry asks, a concerned look dawns on his face as he watches Edward walk away. I don’t want to tell him I started to panic because he was late and thoughts of him crashing his car on the way down wouldn’t leave my head. Harry has a sense for knowing what’s going through people’s heads anyway. I swear he can mind read.
“Yeah, I’m okay, it’s good to see you! How long’s it been, a year?”
“Almost”
“Yeah,” I say in a breath. Harry was always a bit of a chubby boy, but he must have lost a lot of weight. He’s also twice my height, that much hasn’t changed. His hair is still the samebrown colour, but it’s now longer and more wavy than it used to be.
